


Water and Webs

by writingtofilltime99



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Depression, Domestic Avengers, F/F, F/M, Female Percy Jackson, Maybe Peter is gay, Post-Tartarus (Percy Jackson), Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Some Fluff, Very AU, like im kinda doing my own thing, percy is gay DUH
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-06
Updated: 2020-10-22
Packaged: 2021-03-03 00:28:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 15,269
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24045907
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/writingtofilltime99/pseuds/writingtofilltime99
Summary: Peter is staying with the Avengers for the summer and gets to know all the members better as he finds his place on the team and tries to prove himself as a formidable opponent. The member he’s most curious about is Riptide, who seems to be more allusive than the rest combined.Percy is trying to work through enough things without having to worry about the new kid Tony has staying in the tower. But maybe she can help him out and be the mentor she wishes she could have had. However, it might be harder than she thought to watch another kid get roped into fighting other people’s battles.
Relationships: Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson, Nico di Angelo & Will Solace, Percy Jackson & Peter Parker, Percy Jackson & Steve Rogers, Peter Parker & Steve Rogers, Peter Parker & Tony Stark, Piper McLean/Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano
Comments: 10
Kudos: 132





	1. Peter's First Day

“Oh Shit,” Peter thought to himself standing outside of the Avengers Tower that fateful Saturday morning. Ok, so it wasn’t necessarily morning, but having to be up and ready at ten was enough to have him stifling a yawn as he passed through the entrance flashing his ID Mr. Stark had given him. Today was the day he would formally meet the other members of The Avengers, just the thought of being in the same room as all of them had his stomach turning, and the terrifyingly fast elevators also weren’t doing him any favors. 

Finally, the elevator came to a gentle stop and Peter steadied himself against the railing, attempting to calm himself before the doors glided open. He was in a quiet hall and for a second all his panic threatened to spill over. But then, he heard voices carrying over from the left, so he took a deep breath and followed them. He walked towards the voices and resisted the temptation to give himself a pep talk. Mr. Stark had to have cameras in every inch of the tower, he wouldn’t ruin this chance by having The Avengers see him babbling to himself seconds before meeting all of them. As he rounded a corner he saw a large room, modern with transparent walls tinted a light blue. He could make out their shapes and could now hear their voices more clearly. It was just small talk, maybe an argument, Peter was suddenly struck with the thought that maybe they acted like normal people. He took one more deep breath and told himself he would not pass out and/or gush about how much he loved them, and walked in. 

Mr. Stark noticed him first and shot him a smile, Black Widow and Hawkeye, oh my fucking god was he really seeing them, continued their conversation but it tapered off as Hawkeye began studying him. Black Widow noticed and looked at him the way you look at lint on your sleeve, but he tired to imagine she smiled at him warmly. He was startled to notice Captain America had been looking at him the whole time, it was weird, he was so massive yet he seemed to be able to blend in so effortlessly. Thor was pacing idly near the windows and gave him a small smile. They were all dressed casually, Peter tried not to be disappointed, it was a little dumb to have expected they’d be in their uniforms just to meet him. He wondered where the Winter Soldier and Falcon were, as well as Riptide. He was most curious about Riptide, the only member of the Avengers whose identity was unknown. 

He was suddenly aware of snapping and looked to Mr. Stark who was lowering his hand, “Um, earth to Peter, you with us buddy?”

Peter was embarrassed but forced a smile and uttered a terribly meek, “Ah, sorry hi guys, um I mean hello it’s nice to see you, or meet you finally…” he was now looking anywhere but their faces as he felt his own heating up. “It’s um, really great to be here,” he finished, trying to look them in the eyes. 

There was a moment of silence where everyone stared at him and he felt his gut sink. Great, one whole minute was all it had taken to confirm their beliefs, that he was just some kid in over his head. But then Mr. Stark clapped his hands together and gestured to an open chair, “Well kid don’t just stand there, take a seat and let’s get this party started.” 

Peter tried not to smile too big and moved to sit around the table with them, Thor also took his seat and there was another slight pause. It was awkward, but Peter didn’t trust himself to start talking again in fear of the horrifying word-vomit he was still replaying in his head. Luckily, it was Mr. Stark who again got the ball rolling. “So basically this is just a little informal meet and greet since I’m the only one whose really talked to Peter outside of work so, I don’t know, maybe everyone go around and introduce yourself?” He left the question hanging and no one jumped at the opportunity to start. But after a small sigh, Captain America started.

“Hi Peter, it’s nice to meet you. I’m Captain America but Steve is just fine with me,” he said giving Peter a genuine smile. However, Peter noticed something else, a certain glint in his eye as if the introduction, or just Peter being there in the first place, didn’t sit right with him. Peter tried not to let himself dwell on it. 

Next was Black Widow, or Natasha who kept her introduction short, staring at him as if she were taking details Peter wasn’t even aware of. Peter managed to keep himself from fixing his shirt or running a hand through his hair. Hawkeye was Clint, and he seemed genuinely happy that Peter was there, this gave him an ounce of confidence. Thor reached across the table and crushed Peter’s hands in his own shaking it vigorously, his voice filled the room as he announced how great it was to meet him. Peter was calming down, was this actually going to work out?

“Well I’m glad you got to meet some of the crew, sorry about Sam and Bucky, they’re away on a mission, and as for Percy, hell I told her to be down here for ten, let me try to call her again.” Tony trailed off and glanced at his phone. Peter could deduce the fist two names to the Falcon and the Winter Soldier, his fanboy-like obsession with The Avengers had him knowing all their names long before he met them. But Percy, who was Percy?

“Hey whose Percy?” Peter asked right as someone else walked through the door. A girl who looked older than him but still younger than the rest walked past him and sat down next to Captain- Steve. His first thought was that she looked very intimidating. She was tan and had wild black hair that was damp and starting to curl. Her eyes were the strangest shade of green he had ever seen; it was like they almost glowed. They also aged her, made her appear much more mature than the baggy jeans and oversized sweatshirt she was wearing. 

“Sorry I’m late, spare the lecture I just lost track of time,” She said looking pointedly at Mr. Stark. She reached to the middle of the table to grab a water bottle and take a sip. She then looked around the table and settled on Peter. She stared for a second than smiled, “Hey I’m Percy, you must be Peter,” she said nodding as Peter answered with a simple, “Ya hi nice to meet you…I’m sorry but like who are you like, you know, on the Avengers?” 

Percy smiled deeper and straightened up in her seat and said, “Isn’t it obvious? I’m Riptide, you know, the only other person you haven’t been introduced to yet,” she finished teasingly. 

Peter felt heat creeping up his neck, but he was still slightly confused. This was Riptide? The crazy warrior with the sword? The one who controlled water and could make storms? He was expecting a grizzled old man with a beard, not some young girl. He then had the horrifying thought that these people thought the exact same thing when he took his own mask off to reveal a small man-boy who didn’t even shave yet. Percy was looking at him like she knew exactly what he was thinking and daring him to say it out loud. Peter was by nature not someone who took even the simplest dares so he just tried to smile, “Right, I guess I should have been able to figure that out.” 

Percy smiled at Peter approvingly and leaned back in her chair, crossing her legs underneath her. “So,” she began, “Are you staying here too?” She asked Peter. Peter answered yes, since it was summer and he was technically interning with Mr. Stark, he had also been offered a place to stay. It had taken some convincing from Aunt May but finally she relented. He’d already dropped off some of his stuff but tonight would be the first night staying over. Tomorrow, he was supposed to begin helping out Mr. Stark and ‘bonding and creating lasting memories with the team’ as Mr. Stark had put it. He had no idea what he would even do for the rest of the day, let alone the summer. 

“You know what I think?” Mr. Stark began, clasping his hands in front of him on the table, “I think that Percy should give you a tour!” He smiled and looked around the table as the others nodded, some with smirks. It was obvious they were all happy to have not been given the task and Percy didn’t exactly look pleased. 

Nonetheless, she stood and stretched, “You know Tony, I think that’s a great idea,” she said although she was also flipping him off. “You coming?” she said near the door looking at Peter expectantly. Peter got up and mumbled out a ‘nice to meet you guys’ and followed her out the door.


	2. Percy: Tour Guide Extraordinaire

“Gods Tony is a dick, I mean I really don’t mind giving you a tour don’t get me wrong, but like, maybe ask me if I want to you know?” Percy said glancing back at Peter’s shocked face. Oh right, Stark was like his dad now or something. “I mean of course I love the guy,” she hurried, “Sorry, just a weird day,” she let out an awkward chuckle. Gods she was a freak, how hard was it for her to make a good first impression just once? She came to a stop at the elevator and pressed the button, “This elevator is a different one, as I’m sure you noticed. This one starts on the meeting floor and goes up to floors we actually use.” 

Peter nodded along as they stepped inside. His face was concentrated and she almost wished she had a notebook and pencil to give him because she was willing to bet her life he’d take it. She started with the gym floor showing him around the artillery range, the dummies you could practice on, climbing wall, weight area, and the pool. She tried to keep it brief because they had barely started and Peter looked like he was on the verge of malfunctioning. “You can definitely just show yourself around after this, this tour is mostly to avoid a ‘disappointed Tony’ lecture,” she said, hoping he would calm down, “this is your home too.” At this Peter smiled and she noticed some tension drop from his shoulders. 

“Thanks, I’m just kind of freaking out and super nervous,” Peter laughed looking around and running a hand through his hair. Percy looked at him, really looked. He was young, probably 15, and he didn’t look particularly remarkable. But she’d seen the videos of him in action, and she knew he was a genius. It crushed her slightly to see another young person getting roped into all this bullshit, but she promised herself she’d help him in any way. She’d seen too many of her friends lost, too many lives ended before they even properly started; all to please someone higher up. Peter looked like all his dreams were coming true and she wanted it to stay that way, maybe the first step should be adding a little pep to the tour. 

“So the next floor is Tony’s workshop but I’m not allowed in there for a week because of an incident that was not my fault but I’m sure you’ll see it by tomorrow. Then there’s the floors we live on. Basically two people on every floor it’s just your bedroom and bathroom, pretty standard. You share a floor with Thor, but he’s usually gone so you should have it to yourself most of the time.” She occasionally glanced at Peter to make sure he was paying attention, luckily the elevator was boring so he was. 

They came to a stop and came out into the communal area, “So this is where we hang out and the kitchen is over here,” she started as they rounded a corner, “Tony made it that way so we have to at least all come here for food.” She let Peter take a look around before continuing, “Anything here that’s not labeled is fair game, there’s not a chef or anything but if you have food you want you can tell Pepper when she’s here because she weirdly likes making grocery lists,” she made sure Peter wasn’t too distracted at this part because she had tuned Tony out during that portion of the tour. Two weeks of obscenely healthy food had taught her to listen for crucial information. 

“There’s video games and all the streaming apps you could imagine but you can hang out in your room too, but sometimes we have movie nights and those are mandatory. Well, that’s pretty much it,” she said looking over at him where he was looking out the windows, “There’s nothing going on today but we’ll probably have dinner together tonight.”

“So ya,” she trailed off awkwardly, unsure of what she should say now. Peter seemed to sense this as he turned from the window and wandered around the couches.

“Thanks for giving me a tour, really, I feel better knowing the layout,” Peter said gratefully, although he still looked too nervous to touch anything. Percy took a deep breath and told herself to think about how out of place she’d first felt. 

“I know it’s weird, but really you’ll settle in fast. Also, Tony told us to be on our best behavior so don’t worry about anyone giving you a hard time.” Peter looked embarrassed at this but she had been hoping it would offer some relief. “It’ll feel like home in no time!” She said trying to sound excited, hoping her face didn’t show how hard she was internally cringing at herself. “Do you have any questions?” she looked at him expectantly. 

“This is kinda off-topic from the tour, but can I ask how you have your powers?” Peter scratched his neck and avoided eye contact as he asked. Percy had been expecting this question and she ran through her options. She could try to keep it short and simple, ‘Yep! I’m a demigod pretty crazy right?’ or she could make something up, ‘Super toxic swimming pool, I’m lucky to be alive!’ or, she could be nice and explain in depth without dragging up years of trauma in the process. 

“Um it’s kind of a bit to get through, are you hungry?” Percy asked as she headed back toward the kitchen. Peter followed and took a seat at the island as Percy looked through the fridge. 

“Ya I’m a little hungry, I woke up too late to eat anything before I came over,” Peter admitted, drumming his fingers on the table. 

“Perfect, how about waffles?” Percy answered and she hoped he was nodding yes because she was already looking in the cabinets, Natasha never put things back in the right place. Finally she found the waffle iron and set it on the table across from Peter and turned back around to gather the rest of the supplies. She took the opportunity as her back was turned to start.

“So I’m a demigod,” she started; nice. Way to rip the Band-Aid off Percy, couldn’t have even looked him in the eyes when you said it? But she was turned back around now facing him, her arms full. Peter was trying to look neutral but there was a slightly dumbfounded look on his face. “I know it sounds a little crazy,” she continued, “but it’s true, my father is Poseidon, that’s where I get my powers from. I can control water, it heals me to a certain extent, I can breathe in water, and I can talk to marine life.” Phew, Percy mentally patted herself on the back, that was easy, and if she was lucky he would be satisfied with the answer. 

“So are all the stories of the Greek Gods true? And what about the rest of them, do they have kids? Do you have siblings? How come people don’t know about you? Is that why your identity is so secret? Can I see you use your powers? And why didn’t you join the Avengers sooner?” Peter looked at her expectantly, his eyes shining. ‘Ah shit’ Percy thought, this should be fun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So a bit shorter for Chapter Two! Did you like it? :) Thank you so much to anyone who is reading or left kudos!


	3. Peter Realizes Everyone isn't a 15-Year-Old Nerd

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's Chapter 3! I hope anyone reading is enjoying :)

Peter’s head was swimming. The concept of Greek Gods wasn’t entirely unfathomable, his hand still hurt from when the Norse God Thor almost took it off. But still, how could they have been existing under everyone’s noses this whole time? 

“Ok so I’m not sure I remember everything you just asked,” Percy began as she measured out ingredients, “but yes the stories are mostly true and yes the other Gods also have kids but I don’t have any siblings because of a rule that the big three wouldn’t have anymore children,” she went to the fridge and grabbed two eggs and came back to the table. “But that whole rule was broken anyway which led to years of the Gods deciding whether or not to kill me. Anyways,” she blew some strands of hair out of her face and looked up at him, “what other questions did you ask?”

Peter was shocked. Obviously he was no stranger to people wanting him dead, but he was Spiderman. Percy looked for the most part like a normal girl, and if people, no Gods, had wanted her dead for years, she was dealing with this from a much younger age than him. Peter was starting to think that too-old look in her eyes was well deserved and there was a lot more to be said than the blunt answers she was giving. “So how did you know you were a demigod? Did your dad tell you when you were little?” Peter tried to sound casual as he asked.

Percy let out a rough laugh, “No, Poseidon didn’t care to meet me until after I proved I was worth living. All demigods have a scent that attracts monsters, and children of the more powerful Gods have even stronger ones. For a while I had a shit stepfather whose disgusting smell masked mine but once I went to boarding school monsters found me. So I ended up at camp, sort of safe haven for demigods to go and train until they learn to defend themselves or go on quests.” Percy was stirring the bowl a bit aggressively, but Peter didn’t say anything about it. 

“So did you go on quests?” Peter asked, and he didn’t fail to notice how tense Percy was becoming.

“Oh ya, tons.” She said, Peter waited to see if she would say more but when they lapsed into silence Peter was too nervous to ask more questions. 

“Well, it must be cool to do stuff where you can get recognition now, you know now you can help the whole world instead of just the people related to the Greek Gods.” 

Percy’s hands shook slightly as she ladled some of the mix into the hot iron. “You know what the problem with mortals is?” she asked but she continued before Peter could say anything, “your problem is that if you don’t see people running around in front of cameras all dressed up you don’t think you need to be saved from anything. Do you know how many times we’ve saved your asses? Do you know how many lives have been lost saving you because the Gods can’t sort their own shit out?” She turned away for a second and took a deep breath. When she turned around she kept her head down and focused only on taking the waffles off the iron. She stayed silent as she grabbed a plate and set the food in front of Peter. 

“You know, I’m not really so hungry so,” Percy said quickly cleaning up and backing towards the door. “I hope you had a good tour I’ll probably see you at dinner.” Peter didn’t even have a chance to say anything back as she disappeared around the corner. He felt bad as he took a bite, but he wasn’t even sure what he said wrong. Still he felt guilty, here was the one person close to his age and he probably just made her hate him. Just then he heard the ding of the elevator and thought maybe Percy was coming back, instead he saw Steve and Mr. Stark come into the kitchen chatting about something. They paused in their conversation when they saw Peter sitting alone eating his waffle.

“Hey Gordon Ramsey, did you make any for us?” Mr. Stark said as he grabbed a glass from the cabinet and opened the fridge. Steve laughed and also went to the fridge to grab some juice.

“Um no, actually Percy made them for me.” Peter said hoping they wouldn’t ask the next plausible question. 

“Well that was nice of her, where is she?” Steve asked. ‘Fuck’ was the only brilliant thing Peter’s mind could come up with. He wondered what he should say. After carefully studying his plate as the two looked at him waiting for a reply, he decided to be honest. 

“Well is was kind of weird,” he began, looking up at them, “she told me about the whole being a demigod thing, but I think she got mad at me for asking questions.” He looked at them waiting for a reply. Steve muttered a swear which was surprising and left, which was also surprising. Great; now two people were mad at him. Mr. Stark sighed and took a seat across from him with a drink that didn’t look non-alcoholic and said nothing, which filled Peter with panic.

“Look Mr. Stark I swear I wasn’t trying to be rude really I was just trying to get to know her and hey where did Steve go-,” Peter stopped rambling as Mr. Stark put a hand up to stop him.

“Peter I know you didn’t mean to say the wrong thing but something important to understand is that none of us are exactly jumping to talk about our pasts,” Mr. Stark explained calmly.

Peter had never felt more like a kid. These people had pasts, definitive times in their lives they didn’t want to talk about. Sure Peter wasn’t jumping at the chance to talk about his middle school Star Wars phase (which definitely did end in middle school) but it wasn’t like he had some dark past, his life of being a “hero” had only just started. 

“And as for Percy,” Mr. Stark continued after a sip of his drink, “there’s a lot of stuff she still hasn’t told us besides Cap and sometimes Sam when he’s here.”

“So is that why Steve left?” Peter asked, trying to wrap his head around what they could even have in common. 

“Ya Cap is good at talking to her when she’s in a mood, sorry we couldn’t really warn you about that before we sent you off with her alone. She’s just been going through a lot lately, even more so than she’s went through in the last few years. But as long as you keep it light with her, she’s really great.” Mr. Stark looked proud of his explanation, but Peter felt just as confused. 

“But why does Percy only like talking to Steve? It doesn’t seem like they’re very alike,” Peter said, hoping he wasn’t prying too much immediately after being told not to. 

“Let’s just say they have similar pasts, not the whole being asleep for 60 years, but other aspects,” Mr. Stark said carefully. 

“What like Percy fought in a war?” Peter said jokingly, but his laughter died down at the serious look on Mr. Stark’s face.

“More like wars, in Percy’s case but it goes beyond that. So much of both their lives have been combat and having to lose people they loved, that’s not always something you can overcome alone,” Mr. Stark paused to take a sip, “and they’re both young so it’s good they can rely on each other.” At this Mr. Stark looked over at Peter before continuing, “I hope you know that you’re a part of that younger group too now, at least I think you’ll get along with Percy. I mean don’t get me wrong kid its nice to hang out with you, but I want to make sure you’re making friends your age.” 

Peter nodded and felt thankful to have Mr. Stark looking out for him, and he was glad to have gained some insight on Percy without further angering her. Still, he couldn’t resist the urge to ask more. “So, should I apologize or wait until dinner and see if she wants to talk to me?” Peter asked, almost hoping he should go find her so that he at least knew what he would do after he finished eating. 

“I’d say wait until dinner, let her come to you. I’m sure Cap is talking to her now and will tell her to apologize for getting mad. He’s usually good and making her see when she’s too harsh.” Mr. Stark said thoughtfully finishing his drink. “Well beside the end disaster was the rest of the tour good? Pretty nice digs huh?” He said smiling and raising his eyebrows. 

Peter was happy to change the subject and jumped at the chance. “It’s awesome Mr. Stark really, I’m so thankful to be here.” He said, hoping Mr. Stark didn’t think he was too much of a kiss-ass. 

“What about my workshop, pretty sweet right?” Mr. Stark continued, but after Peter explained Percy saying she was banned for no reason to which Mr. Stark veered into a tangent about respecting other people’s workspaces, he offered to take Peter down there for a tour. 

Peter was pretty sure he gave himself whiplash from nodding so fast but after putting his dishes in the sink he followed Mr. Stark to the elevator and down to the workshop. Peter gasped, actually audibly gasped, as he walked in. All the insecurities and screw-ups of the day melted away as he looked around and soon he was wrapped up in a project with Mr. Stark until it was announced that dinner was ready. As they sat in the elevator Peter was too happy to think about having to see Percy at dinner. But then the door opened and they followed the chatter to the kitchen where pizza boxes laid open. Percy was there, laughing and eating as she talked to Clint but when her eyes caught his she paused to give him a small smile. Peter hoped this wouldn’t be as awkward as he was imagining it would be.


	4. Percy is Unstable, and Other Obvious Things

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Longer chapter! Thanks for reading! :)

The only thing Percy could think of as she raced to the elevator was, ‘keep breathing, don’t do this right now, just get to your room.’ As the door closed behind her she took in a shuddering breath and hugged her arms around herself, trying to keep it together. She heard a rushing in her ears and a slideshow of traumatic images flashed in her mind. She tried counting back from ten, naming things out loud she could see or feel, anything to bring her back to the present. She was so disappointed, every time it felt like she was making real progress all it took was someone saying the wrong thing to send her crumbling back to where she started. 

When the elevator stopped she went to her room, shut the door behind her and started digging through her stuff for her emergency phone. It was an incredibly pathetic flip phone covered with Lisa Frank stickers, but right now it was her lifeline. She tore through her room and pulled dirty and clean clothes from her closet. Finally, she found it in her desk buried under several journals and some snacks she had hidden away. She dialed the number she had memorized since she was 13, praying to any God listening that the person on the other end would answer. “Hey, it’s Annabeth obviously I’m busy so leave a message…” Percy swore loudly as her message played on and suddenly wanted to cry hearing Annabeth’s voice. She took a breath and tried to calm down right before she heard the beep.

“Hey Annabeth it’s Percy, duh you knew that…Anyways, could you just call me when you get this, or I don’t know, come here? It’s a really shit day and I can tell I’m spiraling and I hate dragging you into my issues but I just really need you,” Percy paused to sniffle pathetically, “Don’t worry or anything I’m not hurt, just call me please, I love you.” Percy snapped her phone shut which was usually kind of funny to her but today it had no effect. She fell backwards onto her bed and put an arm over her eyes. She already regretted calling Annabeth and was considering calling back and leaving a message saying it was a prank call when there was a knock at the door. She muttered come in without bothering to ask who was there and didn’t move her arm until a few seconds of silence passed. She squinted as her eyes adjusted back to the light and saw Steve standing in the doorway. For a second, they just looked at each other, then Percy put her arm back over her face   
and let out a long sigh.

“I know, I know, I need to apologize to Peter,” Percy said before she felt the bed dip as Steve sat at the end.

“I wasn’t going to say that,” Steve said plainly, “I just wanted to make sure you were ok. Peter told Tony and me what happened, I thought maybe you could use someone to talk to.”

Percy squeezed her eyes shut tighter against her arm before forcing herself to sit up and look at Steve. “I just,” Percy paused to swallow the pain in her throat that came with crying and tried to figure out what she even wanted to say. “I keep waiting for it to get better and stay that way. I can’t keep taking this Steve, I just want to be happy and stay that way.” Tears were falling freely, and Percy tried to wipe them away quickly. She stared at her sad phone and wished Annabeth would call her back, then she started crying harder because she missed her. Steve regarded her with a sympathetic face and let her cry for a few minutes.

“Well do you want the good news or the bad news first?” Steve asked with a small smile.

“Bad,” Percy replied while hugging her panda pillow pet.

“The bad news is, it’s never going to be all good,” Steve said, “You’re never going to be happy all the time, some days you’ll feel like everything is perfect, but there’s still going to be times when you need to lay in bed all day and cry and yell and be mad.” Steve looked her right in the eyes, 

“But it’s still going to be a great life.” 

“What’s the good news?” Percy asked, stopping herself from saying something snarky. 

“The good news, is that everyone around you has the same stuff going on and we will always be there for you,” Steve said, “I still have bad days, but knowing I have you, Bucky, and Sam makes everything a little easier.” 

“I just don’t get why people say shit about things they know nothing about, you know?” Percy was still determined to be upset; Steve’s Full House moment wasn’t going to win that easily.

“I know, I was mad at Tony for a while, and you know how I can hold a grudge,” Steve laughed at Percy’s confused expression before continuing, “He talked to me like he knew my whole life, mocked me for being a ‘perfect’ soldier’.” Steve lowered his hands from the air quotes and Percy was surprised to see the anger in his eyes. “He had no idea what I’d had to do, the things I’d seen. And it was fresh for me you know? It wasn’t 60 years ago, it felt like a few months. But tony mouthed off and expected me to take it, and I did to a certain point, but I had to let my team know I wasn’t ok.” At this he looked pointedly at Percy giving her a knowing smile. “Because this whole thing only works when we aren’t all holding everything in until it spills out,” he finished before standing up.

“I hate when you’re right,” was all Percy said before standing too, but the quick hug she gave him before walking out the door told Steve that she was thankful. They made their way down to the gym floor and Percy sat in the middle of the track and watched Steve run laps, occasionally yelling out encouragements he didn’t need. She kept one hand on her phone in the pocket of her sweatshirt and twisted the beads of her camp necklace with the other. As she sat, she felt more and more calm and eventually came around to the idea that she needed to talk to Peter and let him know she wasn’t mad at him. But she figured she’d just catch him at dinner, so she got up and walked over to the pool. She set her phone by the edge and jumped in, staying dry even fully submerged. She floated under the water and closed her eyes. The reflections on the water made colors dance behind her eyelids and she felt a true smile form on her lips. She wasn’t being tormented by images of things she wished she could forget and she listened to the quiet rush of water. 

Percy figured she must have fallen asleep because when she opened her eyes, she saw Steve at the surface splashing his hand in the water. When she got to the top she noticed the sun was lower and Steve was sweating. “Hey, I’m gonna go shower before dinner, I thought you’d want me to let you know it was later,” Steve said while wiping his face with a towel.

“Ya thanks,” Percy said as she pushed herself out of the pool and grabbed her phone before following Steve back to the elevator. Steve got off at his floor and Percy decided she would just go lay on the couch until dinner. Right when she was stepping out of the elevator her phone started ringing. Percy pulled the phone out of her pocket and answered, “Hello?” which was all she got out before a very worked-up Annabeth started talking.

“Oh my Gods Percy are you ok? Where are you? What happened why did you take so long to pick up oh Gods I’m sorry I took so long to answer-,” Percy figured Annabeth would go until she passed out, so she cut her off.

“Annabeth, my love, I’m ok,” Percy said soothingly, “don’t be sorry, you have plenty on your plate without having to tend to my breakdowns, I’m at the tower and I’m ok now.” Percy tried to push away the guilt and told herself it was good she asked for help, she only wished she could believe herself. Annabeth was talking again about breathing techniques and asking if Percy had written down an account of everything that had happened so she could keep track but Percy wasn’t worried about any of it right now. She just smiled and listened to her girlfriend’s voice, feeling so thankful to have her. 

“So, can you come for dinner?” Percy asked right as the elevator opened and Clint and Natasha stepped out with armfuls of pizza boxes and walked towards the kitchen. 

“Wow, way to avoid everything I said but yes I’ll come,” Annabeth said, “I should be there in like 20 minutes and later I’m making you talk.” Percy giggled at her answer and said goodbye, she was still smiling when she entered the kitchen.

“You look happy,” Clint said while he grabbed plates and napkins, “does that mean the tour went well?”

Percy genuinely started laughing, “Oh no no, not at all,” Percy started, “Well, not horrible I guess at the beginning, but I sorta had a meltdown.” Natasha and Clint both paused before going back to normal instead of asking any more of it.

“Well lucky for you even bad tour guides get pizza,” Clint said and opened one of the boxes that was vegetarian. Percy smiled and put a few slices on her plate. Just then Steve came in and set to work loading his plate with six slices of pizza. Percy used to think it was funny Steve always ate so much so fast until she realized it was a survival tactic from his old life. Now she just wished she could get him to take things slowly.

Percy got so distracted by Clint, who was asking his usual cheesy questions about her powers (So can goldfish do math?), she didn’t notice Tony and Peter until they were pulling out chairs and taking a seat at the table. Percy momentarily made eye contact with Peter and tried to smile in a way that said, ‘Sorry for freaking out, I’m ok now and we should be friends!’ Peter seemed to understand at least some of this because he smiled back and began eating. Thor arrived last and simply grabbed an un-opened box of pizza for himself. Percy and Thor didn’t exactly get along most of the time because Thor was big headed and didn’t know how to watch his mouth when talking about the Greeks; but that was just her opinion. However, for the sake of trying to make dinner go smoothly for Peter, she didn’t antagonize him like she usually did. For about ten minutes everyone chatted idly and it was actually fun, Percy was glad to see Peter looking much more sure of himself. When there was a lull in the conversation Percy though it was best to mention, “Oh by the way Annabeth should be here in a few minutes.” 

“Who’s Annabeth?” Peter asked through a mouthful of pizza. 

“Percy’s girllllllfreind,” Tony dragged out in a high-pitched voice as Clint turned around with his arms reaching to his back and made kissing noises. Percy rolled her eyes, but she was also laughing. Peter looked at her like he wasn’t sure if it was a joke.

“Ignoring them, yes she’s my girlfriend,” Percy said to Peter, watching him somewhat closely. Peter just nodded and smiled before going back to eating. Percy was liking him more and more. She got up from the table to grab a Coke from the fridge and as she was digging to the back where she could see the last can she heard Tony say, “Annabeth! Great to see you, want some pizza?” 

Percy turned around to see Annabeth smiling at Tony and saying hi to everyone before she looked up at her. “Hey,” was the brilliant statement from Percy, but she tried to think of something more to say, “um this is Peter.” Peter raised his hand awkwardly and said hi. Annabeth turned to Peter and introduced herself before facing Percy again.

“Percy could we maybe go somewhere to talk?” Annabeth asked, which was probably a good idea since everyone was watching them. 

“Ya good idea,” Percy responded. She grabbed a plate for Annabeth and put more pizza on her own before walking towards the elevator. Annabeth said bye to everyone and followed behind. When the doors closed Annabeth turned towards Percy.

“Ok spill,” was all she said. Percy took a deep breath and waited until they had walked into her room and sat down.

“Peter said something today when I was giving him a tour,” Percy started but she noticed Annabeth shift like she was going to get up and go find Peter, “wait wait he didn’t mean to!” Percy said, grabbing Annabeth’s arm and gently pulling her back down. Percy took a deep breath and tried to gather her thoughts.

“I gave him the run down on being a demigod and I was really trying to keep it simple but he kept asking more questions and I don’t blame him it’s a crazy thing to just take in and accept. But he said something about how I could finally be doing something good for the whole world and, I just sort of lost it.” Percy knew she didn’t have to explain why this had upset her any further, Annabeth had been by her side for almost everything, if anyone could understand it was her. “And then I was just getting more and more overwhelmed, you know I struggle with that. I just started seeing and hearing all the bad stuff, and I got really freaked out and that’s when I called you.” Percy looked from the spot on the wall she’d been staring at to Annabeth’s face. Annabeth smiled sadly at Percy before wrapping her arms around her and laying back on the bed.

“There’s going to be bad days,” Annabeth said while tracing patterns on Percy’s arm. This was something they said to each other often. It had started as a joke, something a counselor Chiron had sent them to said as if it cured them of anything wrong, but soon after they had realized how true it was. Now, they said it to keep one another on track, to remind each other that their progress wasn’t linear. Percy laid with her head resting on Annabeth’s chest, listening to her slow breath and the hum of her voice. 

Eventually they finished dinner and went back to the communal floor to join the others for movie night. Percy sandwiched herself between Annabeth and Steve, holding the popcorn and M&Ms for the other two. The day had been horrendously long and both great and terrible, but she felt hopeful. Peter sat across from her chatting animatedly with Tony and Bruce, looking like he truly belonged. Annabeth caught Percy smiling at him and placed a kiss on her head. Percy thought maybe, this could all work.


	5. Peter Talks it Out

Peter had been with the Avengers for about two weeks now and although he was mostly happy to be living out his dream, he’d noticed a slight shift in the mood since the general happiness of his first few days had worn off. For one thing, Percy seemed to have been steadily getting moodier and as far as Peter could tell, no one was doing anything about it. It had all started after his first mission; it had been him, Sam, Steve, Bucky, and Percy. Everything had been going fine, they had retrieved the hostages and taken out the 10 guys.   
Peter was clearing the last room with Percy when out of nowhere they came face-to-face with an unexpected eleventh guy. The next few things happened very quickly. 

First, he saw the man begin to lift his gun and heard the ‘click’ of the hammer being cocked. Next, Peter began to shoot a web to grab the gun from the man’s hand, but before he could, the man made a strange strangled noise and dropped the gun. Peter, confused, turned to Percy only to see her staring coldly at the man with one arm slightly outstretched and her hand slowly making a fist. The man’s face had gone red and his eyes were bloodshot and wide with terror. Peter couldn’t stop the slight gasp he let out and this seemed to shock Percy out of whatever mindset she was in because she quickly dropped her hand and the man fell to the ground. They sat in silence until Peter moved, quickly binding the man’s hands and legs together in case he woke up, that is if he was even alive. When he turned back to Percy she was already moving past him to meet up with the others. On the ride back to New York the guys all chatted amicably and even made sure to include Peter, but he was sure they all noticed Percy didn’t say a word as she stared out the window of the jet. 

When they got back to the tower, they ran into Mr. Stark on the elevator and after he questioned everyone on how the mission went (and after he asked Peter specifically if he was hurt three times) he turned on Percy. “And what about you Aquamarine, any notes?” he nudged Percy as he said this but she gave no reaction. Steve, Bucky, and Sam however looked like their eyes were going to pop out of their heads as they tried to give Mr. Stark a silent warning. Just as Mr. Stark turned to look at them in confusion the elevator stopped at Percy’s floor and she quickly exited. As the doors slid shut Mr. Stark turned fully towards the others. “Alright, lets go to the kitchen and talk, shall we?” Mr. Stark asked as the doors opened again and they all made their way to the island countertop and sat down.

Surprisingly, everyone then turned toward Peter to start talking. He was kind of just hoping they would say what they normally did when Percy was being weird. “Well Peter was the one that went off with her and once they came back she was all shut down,” Sam said. The others nodded in agreement and again looked to Peter to fill in the blanks. 

“Um, well basically we went to clear the last room, you know just check for hostages,” Peter paused and shifted in his seat. “So ya, we cleared the room but as we turned and we were going to leave, this guy came out of nowhere and he was about to pull his gun but then Percy-“ Peter stopped and looked at the others unsure of what to say. 

“Go ahead Peter it’s ok,” Steve said encouragingly. Peter took a deep breath before continuing.

“I’m not sure, I guess it was like she was controlling him? But that doesn’t make sense, she can only control water right?” One look at the others told him he should be getting on with it. “Sorry, so ya she was controlling him, but it scared me and I think I must have made a noise and suddenly it was like she snapped out of it.” The looks on everyone’s faces told him none of this was good, so he quickly finished and explained she hadn’t said anything since. 

Peter was sure Steve was going to get up and leave again to find her, but no one moved. They all looked at each other in that should-we-treat-Peter-like-a-kid-or-not type of way before Bucky of all people cleared his throat and looked at Peter. “Percy has a lot of powers, some of them can be scary when you’re not expecting them.” Everyone looked solemn at this but Peter still felt confused, was Percy suddenly able to control minds? 

Mr. Stark could apparently see what Peter’s train of thought. “The human body has a whole lot of water in it kid, do you get it now?” Peter felt his stomach sink.

Percy was angry sometimes, sure, but was this really something she could be capable of? Percy was the girl who cooked him breakfast everyday and made corny puns. Sure, Peter had noticed the haunted look she sometimes had in her eyes, but since the first day mishap between the them, she had been so nice and calm. Peter couldn’t imagine what it would feel like to have that sort of power and he shuddered at the thought of how it must feel to use them. Everyone, Steve in particular, watched him closely trying to gauge his reaction. Peter did his best to nod calmly and not say anything that could come off mean towards Percy. 

“Oh, I guess that makes sense then, but I’m guessing she doesn’t like to use that particular ability, right?” Peter hoped his question would make them think he was totally ok with everything. Although they could see right through him, Steve decided to take it easy on Peter. 

“There’s a lot about Percy’s powers that scare her and are hard for her to accept, but the best thing any of us can do is treat her normally, not like a threat,” Steve said plainly. Although he looked around at everyone when he said this, Peter could tell the statement was directed at him. Peter nodded along with the rest of them and tried to swallow the fear he felt towards Percy. However, Peter could slightly relate to Percy, although maybe not to her level. He knew what it was like to fear himself, he was sure everyone around him could as well. It was scary when he hugged his Aunt May and she had to remind him it was too tight. The guilt he felt after punching a massive hole in the wall of his old room after a fight between the two of them still ate at him. There was a major learning curve when it came to suddenly becoming a superhero, but Peter was trying his best.

“So, what’s the protocol here,” Peter began, trying to smooth the whole thing out, “Should I talk to her about it or just let her be? Also, if I should talk to her about it I’m going to need some solid dialogue because I really wouldn’t know what to say,” Peter admitted and hoped they could tell how nervous he was and take pity on him. 

“Let her come to you, and don’t worry about not knowing what to say, Percy is pretty awkward too,” Steve said nicely to Peter. The others seemed to sense the finality of the statement because Mr. Stark wasted no time changing the subject and the rest slipped into easy conversation. Peter sat back in his chair and thought about Percy and hoped she was ok. Although he felt nervous about the impeding talk between the two, he also wished he could just go find her since no one else seemed too worried. 

The fact that Percy didn’t show up for dinner only increased Peter’s anxiety but again, no one said anything so Peter decided this must not be totally out of the ordinary for her. At dinner the others that hadn’t gone on the mission again asked Peter about how it went but he noticed that they didn’t ask where Percy was, so he figured Mr. Stark had given them the rundown. He was surprised however when Annabeth came out of the elevator and looked a little shocked at the amount of people in the kitchen.

“Oh hey guys, I’m just grabbing some Cokes,” Annabeth said as she crossed to the fridge. 

“Is Percy ok?” Steve asked, getting straight to the point. Annabeth’s shoulders tensed slightly and she paused before opening the fridge.

“She’ll be fine, I think we’re going to go to camp for the weekend just to clear our heads,”   
Annabeth said before she turned back around with two Cokes in hand, “But really, she’s fine,” Annabeth directed this last part towards Peter and smiled at him. 

Everyone said their goodbyes to her and after the elevator doors closed again, they lapsed into an awkward silence. Peter couldn’t stand it anymore so he excused himself and headed to his room. Once he had flopped onto his bed he decided to text Ned and see if he wanted to hang out. Although the whole Spiderman secret was out and Ned knew where Peter was staying, Mr. Stark hadn’t been thrilled at the idea of his friends coming to the tower. So, Peter asked him if he wanted to go hangout at a local café that had more board games than he’d ever seen. It had always been their favorite place to go when either one was having a hard day so he was expecting the, “Hell yes! see you in 10!!” text from Ned. 

Peter quickly threw on some jeans and a sweatshirt and went to Mr. Stark’s workshop to tell him he was heading out. After promising to be careful he finally exited the building and started walking down the busy street. When he arrived, Ned was already sat at a table and Scrabble was laid out in front of him. He also didn’t fail to notice the coffee and blueberry muffin Ned had ordered for him. Peter thanked him as he sat down and Ned jumped right in.

“So what’s got you down?” Ned said as he took a sip of his hot chocolate. Peter chewed his bite of his muffin thoughtfully for a moment before answering.

“As much as I want to tell you everything, I need a second to think of what exactly I can say,” Peter said and took another sip of coffee. He thought maybe Ned would be annoyed at this but really it just made him look more excited. 

“Awe hell ya man!” Ned exclaimed and pounded a fist on the table. “So what is it like covert ops, oh shit! Did you kill someone?” Ned was practically on the edge of his seat; Peter might have laughed if he wasn’t too busy thinking of how he was going to explain. 

“No! Jesus man it wasn’t like that it’s just,” Peter lowered his voice, “I had a mission and I got to see some of Riptides powers that aren’t really talked about.” The piece of cookie Ned had just put in his mouth fell onto the floor as Ned sat there slack jawed for a second. 

“Dude! You got to go on a mission with Riptide!? Oh my god was he a total badass? Did he use his sword? How old is he? Holy shit can I meet him?” Ned probably could have gone on for several more questions but the look on Peter’s face stopped him in his tracks.

“First of all, Riptide is a she and she’s 21,” Peter did laugh at Ned’s face this time, then he continued, “Second, yes she kind of is a badass and yes she used her sword which was awesome, and third; I’m not sure if you can meet her or if you should even know she’s a girl.”  
Ned now looked like he was on the verge of passing out, Peter could only imagine how hard he was trying to process all this new information. Peter was expecting another onslaught of questions, maybe an outburst. 

“Wow, kind of fucked up everyone just assumes she’s a guy, really says something you know?” Ned said while reaching for his drink. Peter was somehow shocked and not at all surprised by this statement. He also remined himself how lucky he was to have a friend like Ned. Hours ago he had felt horrible, but now here he was with someone he knew he could tell anything.

“Ya ya sure, we need to work on being better feminists, but can we talk about the real problem?” Peter asked and waited for Ned’s confirmation before continuing, “We got cornered by this guy and before the guy even fully had his gun aimed, he froze and made this weird noise and dropped his gun.” Peter paused and leaned over the table a bit, Ned also sat forward in his seat, “Ned, Riptide was controlling his blood and I think it could have been a lot worse if I hadn’t made a sound and snapped her out of it.” Peter sat back and took a deep breath. Ned also slumped back in his seat and looked deep in thought. 

“Whoa, is she like deranged?” Ned looked all too happy to be discussing this.

“No man! She’s actually really nice, the other guys said she has a lot of power and it scares her, after she did that she didn’t say anything to anyone and I haven’t seen her since,” Peter explained before draining the last of his coffee.

“Well I hope you’re nice to her when you guys talk, it sounds like it was hard for her,” Ned said before also draining his hot chocolate. Peter said nothing but nodded in agreement. After that Ned figured he had enough to think about so instead they turned to Scrabble and discussed the horrendous amount of summer homework they had. 

On the walk back to the tower Peter thought about the days events. Considering a year ago, he was just a geeky kid, he thought he had handled everything pretty well. When he arrived he decided to go to the workshop and see if Mr. Stark was still there. Unsurprisingly, he was in there tinkering with some mods on his suit, he barely looked up when Peter entered before going back to what he was working on. Peter went over to a corner where he had left some new web shooters he was working on. They worked without talking, only the only noise was ACDC blaring in the speakers. Peter was so engrossed in his work he failed to notice when the music was turned down and he jumped a foot in the air when Mr. Stark took the tool out of his hand. “Hey you’ve been working for like three hours, how about a break?” Mr. Stark said gently. Peter found this incredibly hypocritical because he knew for a fact Mr. Stark pulled more all-nighters than any of the others combined, but he relented and followed him out of the workshop. 

When Percy came back from the ever-elusive camp after the weekend she really did seem better but her good mood seemed to fall away. She also hadn’t said a word about the mission so Peter decided not to mention it either. Peter had started to notice Bucky and Steve also started to look like they had been missing sleep and he had no idea how to handle it. Mr. Stark seemed to be the only one who stayed upbeat but Peter didn’t fail to notice that he had been in his workshop non-stop and that he seemed to only be sleeping about three hours every night. Everything was weird and Peter felt like he was the only normal one; but then he’d had the nightmare. 

He was back with Percy and this time they found more hostages, but they were people Peter could recognize. Aunt May, MJ, and Ned all sat with their backs against the wall and they looked terrified. Peter felt his heart stop and moved to help them but he was frozen and he began panicking more and tried in vain to will his limbs to obey him. But then he saw Percy, that same cold look in her eyes, arm raised controlling him. Peter couldn’t breathe; his mind was moving a mile a minute, and he could do nothing but stare helplessly as the people he loved struggled to break free of their restraints. Peter tried to yell but no sound came out.

Suddenly he shot up in his bed gasping for air. He scrambled to turn his lights on, taking gasping breaths and trying to calm down. He paced his room before deciding maybe he should go make some tea and attempt to sleep again since it was only three in the morning. The silent ride in the elevator was filled only with his erratic breaths and when he came out of the elevator he practically ran to the kitchen before stopping dead in his tracks at the sight of two other people already sitting at the island. 

Bucky and Percy sat across from each other and looked at him with genuine shock, the three of them sat there in silence for a moment before Percy got up from her seat. 

“Want me to make you some tea?” she asked, already pulling a mug from the cabinet. A stream of water moved out of the faucet into the kettle already on the stove and with a quick absent-minded wave of Percy’s hand it retracted back into the sink once she filled it and turned the burner on. 

Peter now saw no way to escape so he awkwardly took a seat. They all sat in silence as Peter glanced around the room but then his eyes fell on Bucky who was already looking at him. “Did you have a bad dream?” Bucky asked bluntly. Peter immediately looked away and instead stared at his hands for a second. 

“Bucky, Peter doesn’t have to say anything if he doesn’t want to,” Percy said, sliding his cup of tea in front of him before sitting back down, “maybe he just wanted something to drink.” Percy smiled at him in such an understanding and calm way Peter couldn’t help but notice how drastically different it was from how she had been acting lately.   
Peter took a small sip and wondered what to say now. On the one hand, he could talk about what woke him up and open up a bit. But he also felt apprehensive, being vulnerable wasn’t something he was good at, especially with literal superheroes. Finally, Peter decided to test the waters.

“I was back on our last mission, but my aunt May and my friends were the hostages,” Peter began, and Bucky and Percy looked at him and waited for him to continue. “I was trying so hard to move but I couldn’t, I couldn’t even talk to them and tell them it would be ok,” Peter’s voice broke off and he looked away from their faces and tried to collect himself, “I’m just always worried there’s going to be a time when I cant do the right thing, like I’m just waiting for my luck to run out.” Peter somehow felt a weight being lifted off his shoulder’s but also a sinking feeling in his stomach. He had decided it would be best not to include that Percy was the reason he was frozen. He spared a glance at the other two and saw them looking at him with sad eyes. Bucky’s expression was hard to place but Peter didn’t know him well, so it was pretty normal. Percy however looked like she was furious and Peter also noticed the sink was starting to shake, but that stopped as she clenched her fists and took a deep breath. 

“Peter, you don’t have to do this, you know that right?” Percy said softly. Peter was stunned and didn’t know how to respond.

“Uh, what?” was the brilliant response he came up with.

“I just mean, you don’t have to be Spiderman,” Percy started, “if this is too much you can go back to being just Peter. I know you want to impress Tony and you feel like you have to be here but you don’t have to have all this shit put on you.” Percy sat forward and looked so genuinely sad for him that Peter lost all words for a minute. 

“What, no! I don’t want to stop I mean this is like a dream come true! I can’t just quit!” Peter rushed out quickly, chastising himself for sharing too much. “This is just a small thing, no big deal! Please don’t tell Mr. Stark to kick me off the team I’m really fine I’ll-“ Peter was cut off as Bucky placed a hand on his arm. 

“Peter, no one’s going to kick you out, but we want to make sure you’re ok. We’re glad you talked to us and want you to know you can always talk to anyone on the team and if that doesn’t work, Tony would be more than willing to find someone for you to talk to.” Bucky finished, shooting a look at Percy. 

“Bucky’s right Peter, it’s really good to know you trust us enough to share how you’re feeling and if anything is ever bothering you I hope you talk to one of us,” Percy started, but with another look from Bucky she sighed and continued, “look, I’m sorry I said what I said, its just I grew up fighting things way bigger than I could understand so it’s just a little hard for me to see you doing the same thing, but if you’re sure you want to be here than that’s your decision, I just want you to be careful.” Percy smiled at him and Peter finally felt himself relaxing before drinking the last of his tea and standing to put his mug in the sink. 

“You guys, seriously thank you for listening I feel a lot better but I think I’m going to try to head back to bed.” Peter said as he turned around to face them. Percy understood the finality of this because she stood up too and grabbed hers and Bucky’s mug to bring to the sink and the three of them went to the elevator. Bucky and Percy got off on the same floor and said goodnight. 

When Peter finally got back to his room, he fell into bed heavily and closed his eyes. Sleep came swiftly and when he woke up the next morning at ten, he was pleasantly surprised to realize he hadn’t had anymore bad dreams.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back! Hopefully you liked this chapter :)


	6. Percy Wishes LIfe was Different

So, Percy was a fucking mess. It had started with the whole ‘controlling that guy’s blood’ debacle. As soon as she’d done it, had looked up and seen Peter’s terrified expression so like Annabeth’s when they were in- well, it was safe to say she quickly shut down and focused on not breaking. She had noticed the others shooting her looks on the jet home but dutifully ignored them, and when Tony tried to joke around with her in the elevator she had just shoved him out of the way and left it at that. One incoherent phone call to Annabeth later and they were on the way to camp for the weekend. 

The rolling fields and glittering lake usually filled her with calm and ease, but the two days she spent there were anything but. Everywhere she looked she saw children training to fight for their lives. She wanted to yell out to them as she saw them joking around, warn them that they could lose those same friends in the blink of an eye. Nothing looked the way it used to, camp wasn’t a safe haven, it was a stopping point between being a kid and being a pawn. When Sunday rolled around she couldn’t wait to leave, Annabeth needed to stay with Chiron to help him plan designs for new cabins and a training arena. Percy had been avoiding him because she knew if she talked to him she would only end up screaming at him for tricking her into thinking she could ever actually be happy. 

She chose to take a van back to the city rather than flying on Blackjack so she could have enough time to regain some composure before she saw the Avengers again. They didn’t need her horrible mood putting a cloud over the tower and she wanted Peter to think she was ok. She was sure the others had tried to explain to him what had happened, to explain how she could be, but she wondered if any of them really knew those things. The only ones who would know would be Steve and Bucky, but they were also good at keeping her secrets. She dreaded having to go back and pretend, but figured it was for the best, putting on a mask was her specialty.

As she exited the elevator and went to her room she felt someone behind her and before she could process who it was she had uncapped Riptide, feeling the familiar worn leather hilt and bringing it to the neck of the person. Seeing Bucky’s surprised and slightly nervous face staring back at her caused her to take a shuddering breath and step several feet away from him. Bucky held his hands out in front of him and started walking towards her but she quickly tried to rearrange her features to look nonchalant.

“Gods Bucky you’re too quiet for your own good, you scared me,” Percy said with a laugh that sounded too shaky, “sorry about that, just a little jumpy I guess.” Percy tried for an easy smile that probably looked more like a grimace, and turned around to her room, noticing Bucky was following her. She plopped her backpack down on her bed and began unpacking while Bucky sat on the chair at her desk, still staying quiet. He waited a few more moments while Percy went into her bathroom to put away her toiletries before he broke the silence. 

“So, how was your weekend?” Bucky asked simply enough. He was clearly baiting her to break, but Percy wouldn’t. 

She paused only briefly while folding a sweatshirt before answering, “Really nice, it’s always good to go back and feel safe, a good escape.” She purposefully stayed facing away from Bucky, but his halfhearted hum of acknowledgement wasn’t good. 

“Well you’re clearly invested in whatever your lying about so when you feel like talking, I’ll be down the hall,” Bucky said, leaving Percy no chance to respond before he was already out the door. 

“Fuck you Bucky,” She muttered to herself while changing into one of Annabeth’s tshirts and some pajama pants. It wasn’t late, but suddenly she felt so tired all she could do was fall into bed amongst the stuff she hadn’t yet put away and fall into a deep sleep. A few days passed normally, Percy tried to keep up a good mood around the others but was continuously spending more time either at the bottom of the pool or locked in her room. Finally after about a week, she woke up with the realization she was incredibly hungry. She supposed that’s what happened when you spent a week hiding away with no appetite. 

She looked in her mirror before leaving, the hood of her sweatshirt was pulled tight around her face, wonderfully drawing attention to the purple bags under her eyes. Whatever, Percy thought, maybe for once she’d have good luck and no one would be around. She approached the elevator and tired not to think of anything except eating, but as the doors shut behind her she felt like all she wanted to do was go back to bed.

The small place felt especially suffocating and she swore Tony had cranked the heat because it was unbearable. She sprang out as soon as the doors opened enough to squeeze through and came into the kitchen to find Steve and Tony sitting at the counter deep in conversation, but it halted as soon as they saw her.

Percy tried for a smile once again and pretended she wasn’t still feeling the boiling heat and went to the fridge for a Coke. Tony and Steve watched her but said nothing for a minute. Finally, Steve asked, “Hey Percy you’re not planning to go to camp this weekend right? We might have a mission.” 

“No, I’m not going back,” Percy said a little too quickly before finishing lamely, “so, ya won’t be a problem.”

Percy tried to ignore the ever-increasing heat and her ears which had started ringing, trying to happily listen to whatever Steve and Tony were talking about. She felt like she was watching herself from outside her body, all she could really feel was blistering heat. 

“Percy are you feeling ok?” Steve asked concernedly, getting up from his seat and approaching her. Percy wasn’t even sure when they had stopped talking. 

“Um, ya I’m just, is it really hot? I feel hot?” Percy’s voice sounded muffled in her head and she pressed her can to her forehead, begging her mind to snap out of it. All around her the room glowed with fire, the ceiling now a black abyss. She wasn’t there, she wasn’t there, “I’m not there,” She said quietly to herself. At this Tony and Steve shared a look before Tony also slowly got up. 

“Percy, hey can you look at me? You’re right, you’re not there, you’re here in the tower with me and Steve, can you try to calm your breaths Percy?” Tony was inching closer but didn’t dare touch her, they all knew Percy tended to react violently when surprised. 

Percy could hear their voices, but distantly, just as she had in Tartarus. But those voices had been tricks, they had lured her into traps, had kept her awake until she was so tired she couldn’t stand. Percy covered her ears tightly and pulled at the roots of her hair gasping for air. 

“You’re not real, you’re not real, Tartarus tricks you,” Percy repeated to herself, keeping her eyes squeezed shut. 

She felt the hot wind on her face, the flames she’d had to drink burning the whole way down her throat, still the voices persisted telling her she was ok. She couldn’t breathe, the air was too thick with smoke, stinging all the way down her blistered throat. Something touched her shoulder and she flinched back, feeling around for the nearest water source. She felt one and shot her hand in the direction of the touch, feeling a jet of water obeying. It made impact and she heard someone yelling more persistently before ice cold water poured over her. Her eyes snapped open and she looked around trying to figure out where she was. She scrambled back from someone standing close to her but realized it was Tony and he was telling her she was in the tower and it was safe. Percy tentatively reached out and touched Tony’s arm feeling a rush of relief at the realization he was real. She glanced behind Tony to see a soaking wet Steve peeling himself off the floor. 

“Oh Gods Steve I’m so sorry I just, fuck,” Percy cut off as a lump formed in her throat, she pressed her hands to her head and tried to steady her breaths looking anywhere but the two men in front of her. 

“It’s ok Percy really, I shouldn’t have touched you, you’re ok and you’re in the tower and we are real,” Steve said in a low and calm voice. 

Percy waved a hand and all the water came out of Steve’s clothes and hair before dropping her hands to her side, squeezing them into fists and letting the pain of her nails digging into her palm keep her in the moment. She knew Steve didn’t think it was an appropriate method and was eyeing her hands even now, but he made no move to stop her. 

“Sorry about the ice bath, I just remembered it worked last time,” Tony started. “So what’s been going on? You’ve been a little off since you came back from camp,” he asked while handing Percy a glass of water which she drained quickly. 

Percy didn’t realize she had started crying until she felt the cold drop-sized marks on her shirt, she blankly reached a hand to her face to wipe the rest away. “It’s too painful now,” Percy said in a wobbly cracking voice. “How was I always so blind to it? Camp used to feel like the only safe place in the world, that’s how we were taught to think of it,” Percy’s voice was quickly turning furious. “But that’s not right is it? It’s just a stopping point for Chiron to make sure we’ll have enough sense to be able to do the bidding of Gods, always cleaning up their messes.” Outside the wind was picking up and clouds were quickly gathering, a clap of thunder sounded drawing everyone’s attention to the window. “I’m not scared of you!” Percy screamed at the window, “Go ahead, kill me! See where that gets you!” Percy let out a frenzied laugh, but all Tony and Steve could do was watch helplessly. 

Just as Steve was about to try to say something, the elevator dinged and two people came out; Thor and Peter. Thor took one look at Percy and made a tsk-ing sound before rummaging around the kitchen. Finally, with three protein bars and a drink he said, “I see the demigod is once again having a fit.” 

Immediately after saying it the drink he had just set on the table exploded fully into his face. Percy glared at Thor from where she was still standing, daring him to make the next move. Peter was still standing frozen near the elevator, Thor was glaring back at Percy, his blue eyes flat as arctic ice. He wiped some liquid from his eyes and brushed some lose hairs back that were plastered around his face and took a deep breath.

“While I would enjoy electrocuting you demigod, I must say I am reluctant. I doubt at this point even you know what you’re capable of,” Thor said quietly with a slight smile, nodding his head to the side slightly before continuing, “the children of Poseidon do have a wonderful knack for being more monster than human don’t they?” 

No one said anything, only turning to look at Percy as if they were watching a tennis match. Percy stepped back like the words had physically pushed her and left the room without a word.

Percy wasn’t sure how long she had been in the pool but she did think she could see the first light of sunrise coming in the windows. She hadn’t let herself sleep knowing all too well what would have awaited her. Her eyes had been closed for awhile while she was laying at the bottom of the pool but when she opened them she saw Bucky crouched at the edge peering down at her. She heaved a sigh and let the water guide her back to the top. She floated with her arms resting on the edge of the pool as Bucky moved into a sitting position. Percy had actually allowed herself to get wet and her hair stuck to her face as the rest floated around her in the water. 

“Steve told me about what happened, everyone is pissed at Thor,” Bucky said while staring into the water. 

“All I could think about was how easy it would be to kill him, that I could stop his heart, make him choke himself, squeeze all the water out of his eyes,” Percy said in a small hurt voice while picking at the skin around her fingernails. “And then, what he said about me being more monster than human, he was right wasn’t he?” 

Bucky tried to reconcile that this girl was the same one who fought ferociously and without hesitation, the one who hatched brilliant battle plans in split seconds. But all he could see before him was a kid. Even though she was 21 now and insisted she be treated as an adult, she was too young. She was looking a him, begging him to tell her she wasn’t a monster, this was a struggle they shared. 

“You’re not a monster Percy,” Bucky said slowly and purposefully, “You have spent the last ten years doing whatever you could to survive with an incredible amount of pressure no one could ever understand,” Bucky reached out and tucked back some hair that was starting to dry and curl. “You are incredibly powerful and I know it’s scary, but you also have the power to control it,” Bucky wasn’t sure now if he was only saying this for Percy’s benefit. “The ultimate point is that Thor is a dick and you could beat him even if it was just hand to hand,” a smirk pulled at Percy’s lips at this and she looked at Bucky thankfully before pushing herself out of the water completely. With a flick of her hand the water was whisked out of her clothes and back into the pool. No matter how many times Bucky saw her use her powers it never ceased to amaze him, the practiced ease in which she made the water obey her. 

Bucky suggested they go for a run rather than training since he figured Percy needed a non-violent activity right now. Percy agreed and went to change into some workout clothes and was met with Peter also waiting for the elevator. Peter looked into her eyes then quickly averted his gaze. 

“Hey, sorry you had to see that thing with Thor, he just has a wonderful way of pushing my buttons,” Percy said with a small smile. 

Peter huffed a small laugh but still looked very uncomfortable. “It’s ok, Steve sort of filled me in after he got done screaming at Thor.”

Percy looked at him surprised but smiling, thinking about Steve letting himself get angry for once. But she also felt guilty for causing a rift in the team, her problems with Thor was between the two of them. “And I’m sorry you had to see me looking like such a mess, it’s hard for me to remember where I am sometimes,” Percy said, purposely keeping out where she sometimes thought she was. She said this while looking at the elevator doors but out of the corner of her eye she saw Peter look at her quizzically. 

“Um, don’t worry about it, they sort of explained that too,” Peter said as the elevator doors opened and they both went in. “They said you got stuck somewhere, what was it called Tar- something?”

“Tartarus,” Percy said quietly, digging her nails in her palms again. “You can google it or ask the others or whatever, but I really don’t like talking about it.” The doors slid open on Percy’s floor and she exited, offering one more, “Sorry again for how I acted.” 

She quickly changed into another one of Annabeth’s tshirts and some leggings before meeting Bucky at the ground floor. They ran their usual ten-mile loop and stopped for coffee on their walk back to the tower. Bucky did most of the talking, he told stories about him and Steve when they were kids, thinking of anything to make her happy. Percy laughed along and sipped her drink, an iced latte with oat milk, which Bucky wrinkled his nose at. He preferred the sweetest concoction any barista could make. 

When they got back Bucky and Percy went to their floor to shower. Percy went into her room and saw she had a missed call from Annabeth, she called her back and went to the bathroom to turn the shower on. Annabeth picked up on the fifth ring sounding slightly out of breath. 

“Hey what’s up?” Percy asked. 

“Well I was going to wait for you to call me and tell me about why you’ve been so out of it and distant since we went to camp but I couldn’t take it anymore,” Annabeth said, sounding slightly annoyed. 

“Ugh, I hate that you notice everything,” Percy said, obviously skirting around the subject. 

“Percy come on,” Annabeth said impatiently. For some reason it angered Percy.

“Look I don’t want to talk about it ok? You sound busy so I’ll just let you get back to whatever you’re doing,” Percy snapped back. And because she was Percy she took a deep breath and said,   
“I just really cant explain it all right now, can you come here tonight? Or I can come to your place?”

Annabeth was quiet for a moment before taking a deep breath and letting it out. “I’ll come over later, but Percy, I need you to tell me when somethings not right. You can’t just shut down on me and think I won’t notice. You need to get past whatever it is that makes you hold back ok?” 

“I know, I’ll see you later, love you,” Percy mumbled into the phone. Annabeth said it back and hung up.

Percy tossed her phone onto her bed and dug the heels into her eyes before taking a shower that felt too hot no matter how much she turned the temperature down. 

After her shower she wandered to Steve’s room to fill time until Annabeth came over. She knocked lightly but received no answer. She pushed the door open and saw that he wasn’t in there, so she went back to the elevator to try the training room. She should have figured he would be there, relentlessly punching a punching bag before sending it flying across the room. He glanced back at Percy and nodded a hello before grabbing another bag to hang up. Steve continued to beat the new one ferociously while Percy crossed to sit on the bench nearest to him. When the new punching bag was again blasted apart Steve walked over to Percy to get a drink from his water bottle. Steve laid down on the padded floors and Percy tucked her legs up on the bench resting her head on her knees. 

“So, how ya doing?” Percy asked awkwardly amongst Steve’s exhausted breathing. Steve sat up leaning on his elbows and eyed Percy for a second. 

“Shouldn’t I be asking you that?” He said smiling crookedly. Percy laughed and explained that Bucky had taken her on a run and Annabeth was coming over later. Steve nodded along and seemed content Percy wasn’t on the verge of a breakdown anymore, so instead they talked about mindless things. Soon enough Percy was also on the floor and forcing Steve to stretch with her, something he hated greatly, and telling him stories about her friends. They were interrupted from their chatter by people coming into the room. They both sat up to see Clint, Natasha and Annabeth standing over them. 

“We ran into Annabeth and figured you would be here,” Natasha said smiling at Annabeth before her and Clint headed over to the artillery range. Annabeth sat down next to Percy and kissed her on the cheek before asking Steve how he was doing. Percy leaned her head on Annabeth’s shoulder and listened to the two talk for a while until Steve stood and said he was going to get something to eat. 

Annabeth stood up too and held a hand out to pull Percy up and they headed back to her room. They didn’t say anything on the elevator but Annabeth pulled Percy in a real kiss, assuring her she wasn’t mad. Percy found herself wishing life was this easy, that they could be on an elevator in an ordinary building, heading back to an apartment they shared maybe. But instead they got off on her floor and headed to her room. Annabeth sat on Percy’s bed and Percy stood and paced, wringing her hands. Annabeth took a good look at Percy from her bed. She had dark circles under her eyes and her posture was sort of slumped. She seemed alert but not like she usually was, she was jumpy and kept glancing around; Annabeth had a feeling she knew why, and with a sinking feeling in her gut she encouraged Percy to talk. 

Percy explained everything, how being at camp now felt impossible, her flashback to Tartarus, and finally what Thor had said. Annabeth was quiet for a second but when she looked up, Percy was shocked to see her eyes shining with tears. Annabeth got up and held Percy’s face in her hands, speaking slowly. 

“Percy, you are not a monster,” Annabeth said, waiting a moment before continuing. “I’m gonna kill Thor for saying that but that’s not the point right now. The point is that you can be angry without having to hide it from me, if you can’t be at camp right now that’s fine, but you shouldn’t think of it how you have been lately. It kills me too you know,” Annabeth broke off for a second, saying it softer. 

“It does?” Percy asked as Annabeth dropped her hands and they laid down on her bed. 

“Gods of course it does, everywhere I look I see us,” Annabeth said with her head laid on Percy’s chest. “They have no idea what this life is going to bring them to do, I can’t stand thinking of them waking up form nightmares, fighting monsters and wondering if they’ll make it out alive. But I want to be there for them, I want them to at least have someone. Some concrete evidence that they can live long enough to go to graduate high school, maybe go to college, have a somewhat normal life.” 

“How can you stand it?” Percy asked, staring blankly at the ceiling. Annabeth looked up at her and wiped a tear from her cheek. 

“Everything we do never feels like enough you know? We go on a quest then come home and the Gods go about their business and don’t spare us a glance. But helping the kids, seeing them improve, it givesthe slightest peace of mind. Like maybe they can come out of this better than us, because no offence, but we’re kind of a mess.” 

Percy and Annabeth laughed and Annabeth rolled so she was straddling Percy and leaned down to kiss her. Percy put her hands on Annabeth’s face and the back of her neck deepening the kiss, suddenly feeling like she’d never be able to get enough of her. They continued to make out and get a little handsy until a knock sounded at the door followed shortly by it opening. Annabeth and Percy sprung apart like shrapnel quickly straightening their clothes out and saw Peter standing in the door, his cheeks flaming red. 

“Um, Steve wanted to me to tell you there’s Chinese food in the kitchen if you want some, so ya um ya you can come eat if you want,” Peter managed to get out, before darting away. 

Annabeth and Percy took one look at each other before bursting into laughter. They were still giggling when they got to the kitchen and one look at the others told them that Peter had let them more or less know what he’d walked in on. They just started laughing again before fixing up some plates and sitting down. It was just Steve, Bucky, Tony and Peter tonight since the others were busy. No one mentioned where Thor was but Percy kept it out of her mind and frankly couldn’t make herself care. Percy told them about seeing his best friend Ned which warmed Percy’s heart, he was talking excitedly about something to do with Minecraft. He and Annabeth got into a very long discussion about it since Annabeth had been obsessed with it for months. They exchanged servers and Annabeth told him how excited she was to have someone see her stuff since Percy was the only other one to have seen it and couldn’t give much opinion. 

“Hey! I can’t help that everything you make is awesome, there’s only so many words to tell you it’s perfect,” Percy said gently bumping her shoulder into Annabeth’s. Annabeth smiled back at her, rolling her eyes.

Percy looked at Peter as he and Annabeth continued talking and realized at some point she’d probably have to talk to him, or at least make more of an effort to be more friendly. She hated that she’d been avoiding him and she didn’t want him to think she was mad at him. But that was a problem for another day, for now she just enjoyed the mindless talk and focused on simple moments like these.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soooooo long time no see lol 
> 
> but seriously if you're still reading i really appreciate it! I'm kinda unsure of where i want the story to go but if you are still enjoying it i'm glad :))


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